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F e a t u r e A r t i c l e
Light for the World
New Mysteries for an Old Prayer Form
By Michelle Arnold
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This Rock
Volume 13, Number 10
 December 2002 
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The promulgation on October 16, 2002, by Pope John Paul II of a new set of mysteries for the rosary, while a surprising development, is not a historical anomaly. In his apostolic letter Rosarium Virginis Mariae (The Rosary of the Virgin Mary), the Holy Father proposed to fill the gap between the hidden life of Christ recounted in the joyful mysteries and the onset of his Passion in the sorrowful mysteries with a set of mysteries devoted to meditating on incidents during Christ’s public ministry. As Peggy Noonan commented in an editorial for The Wall Street Journal on October 18, 2002, "The new mysteries seem like something that had originally been there but was somehow lost to time" (http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110002487).
Called the luminous mysteries, or the mysteries of light, the five mysteries proposed by the Holy Father are: Christ’s baptism (Matt. 3:13–17), the wedding at Cana (John 2:1–11), the proclamation of the Kingdom (Matt. 5–7), the Transfiguration (Luke 9:28–36), and the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper (Mark 14:22–26). In the hope of fully developing the "christological depth of the rosary," the Holy Father introduced these new mysteries to promote contemplation of "important.aspects of the person of Christ as the definitive revelation of God" (RVM 19).
In his apostolic letter the Holy Father made clear that he was offering the new mysteries as an addition to, not a negation of, the traditional rosary. Those who prefer to meditate solely on the traditional mysteries are free to do so. The bottom line is, the rosary remains a private devotion. It is not incumbent upon Catholics to pray it at all; John Paul II merely encourages it as an "effective means of fostering among the faithful . . . genuine ‘training in holiness’" (RVM 5).
To fit the new set of mysteries into the weekly cycle of reciting the rosary, the Holy Father proposed dropping one of the three recitations of the glorious mysteries, moving Thursday’s joyful mysteries to Saturday—the day that has been dedicated to Mary—and inserting the luminous mysteries into the cycle on Thursday. (The day that the Church commemorates in its liturgy the institution of the Eucharist at the Last Supper, now recalled in the rosary as the fifth luminous mystery, is Holy Thursday.)
The new mysteries also serve to introduce a uniquely appropriate set of mysteries to honor the liturgical season of Ordinary Time. Ordinary Time is the season on the Church’s liturgical calendar that highlights the public ministry of Christ. With the traditional format of the rosary, the joyful mysteries correspond to Advent (the anticipation of Christ’s Incarnation); the sorrowful mysteries correspond to the Lent and Holy Week (the penitential season that commemorates Christ’s passion and crucifixion); and the glorious mysteries correspond to Easter (the Resurrection of Christ and the birth of his Church on Pentecost). With the luminous mysteries Catholics may gain a new appreciation for Ordinary Time, until now largely seen as a bridge between the more significant seasons of Easter and Christmas.
But why should the rosary be changed? Why should Catholics now meditate on the public ministry of Christ? It must be remembered that although the rosary has had an enormous influence on Christian spirituality, it is not a part of apostolic Tradition. It is a religious prayer custom, and therefore may be modified by the pope, who is the supreme teacher of the faith.
In the days following the promulgation of the new mysteries, some Catholics appeared to forget that. On the Internet, complaints ran the gamut from the belief that the promulgation would lead to depreciation of the rosary’s classical form to the declaration that what was good enough for modern saints such as Thèrése of Lisieux and Padre Pio should be good enough for us.
The revitalization of the apologetics movement over the last quarter century has brought about a new interest and appreciation for the significance of Christ’s public ministry. The twentieth-century apologist Frank Sheed insisted on the importance of intimate familiarity with Christ’s public life.
"Not to know the two years or so of the public ministry, not to have lived through every incident of it, is not to know God-made-man as he dwelt among us," Sheed wrote. "If we do not know him as he lived among us, acted and reacted and suffered among us, we risk not knowing him at all. For we cannot see him at the right hand of the Father as we can see him in Palestine. And we shall end either in constructing our own Christ, image of our own needs or dreams, or in having no Christ but a shadow and a name. Either way the light he might shed is not shed for us—light upon himself, light upon God" (Frank Sheed, To Know Christ Jesus, pp. 10–11).
Knowledge of Christ is gained by meditation upon his life. That life includes not just his birth and childhood, his suffering and death, and his Resurrection into glory; it also includes the earthly life he lived among us. It includes his teaching of the kingdom and his revelation of himself as the Son of God. Without undervaluing the contribution of the Age of Faith, these considerations should trump sentimental fondness for medieval spirituality.
As to the second objection advanced following the promulgation, we cannot know what Thèrése of Lisieux or Padre Pio might have thought of the new mysteries. But we do know that as faithful Catholics they would have submitted to the Holy Father’s authority to promulgate them. Beyond that, it is hard to imagine that saints so intimately plunged into the life of Christ would spurn the gift of meditations on his public ministry.
There was another complaint voiced in the days following the promulgation: Doesn’t the Pope have better things to do, considering the scandals engulfing the Church? Why should John Paul II be devising new prayer forms when what we really need him to do is drop-kick abusive priests and apathetic bishops from their ministries?
The Holy Father has taken an unprecedented personal interest in addressing the tragic scandal plaguing American Catholics. But by this promulgation he reminds us that prayer is a key weapon in the fight to overcome evil in the Church. Without prayer, any action we take is doomed to failure because without the Lord we can do nothing. The Benedictine motto, ora et labora (prayer and work), spells out what will ultimately defeat the evil engulfing the Church.
In his apostolic letter, the Holy Father also offered suggestions for a better, deeper recitation of the rosary and meditation on its mysteries.
Announcing the mysteries. In order to focus attention on the mystery to be meditated upon, the Holy Father felt that it is important for each mystery to be announced, perhaps "using a suitable icon to portray it" (29), that our attention might be focused outward upon God rather turn inward upon ourselves.
Reflection upon Scripture. So that a greater appreciation of the scriptural roots of the rosary might be developed, the Holy Father recommends that "it is helpful to follow the announcement of the mystery with the proclamation of a related biblical passage, long or short, depending on the circumstances" (30). In this, the Holy Father hopes to introduce reflection upon Scripture into "the rosary’s methodology" (ibid.).
Silent contemplation. "After the announcement of the mystery and the proclamation of the word, it is fitting to pause and focus one’s attention for a suitable period of time on the mystery concerned, before moving into vocal prayer" (31). In a culture of noise and distraction, the Holy Father recommends setting aside periods of silence during the rosary so that "the mind focuses on the content of a particular mystery" (ibid.).
These are only three of the Pope’s suggestions for praying the rosary. It is well worth obtaining a copy of the Holy Father’s entire letter, available on the web sites of the Vatican (www.vatican.va) and Catholic Answers (www.catholic.com) to savor all of the Pope’s suggestions for enriching the prayer of the rosary.
Although it is impossible to know with certainty the long-term effects of the new mysteries, speculation might be made.
This promulgation draws new attention to the rosary and highlights the scriptural roots of the prayer. Based entirely on the lives of Christ and his Mother, with mysteries drawn almost entirely from the explicit accounts of the Gospels, the rosary, "properly revitalized . . . is an aid and certainly not a hindrance to ecumenism" (RVM 4).
Meditation on Christ’s public ministry, especially on his call to us to share in his ministry—as exemplified by Mary’s intercession for the wedding couple at Cana and her instruction to the servants to "do whatever he tells you" (John 2:5)—may prepare us for a deeper understanding of Mary’s unique share in Christ’s mediation. Should it be the will of God, the promulgation of the luminous mysteries might one day lead to the definition of the fifth Marian dogma. Even if that doctrine is never infallibly defined, the new mysteries can lead us to a better appreciation and reflection upon Mary’s maternal intercession.
Fundamentalists maintain that the Church's Marian doctrines are the result of piety run amok. In his book Mary, Another Redeemer? Fundamentalist apologist James White attempts to prove that the Catholic understanding of Mary must be rejected because it is allegedly the result of the sentimental, overblown piety of Saints Alphonsus Liguori (whose name White always misspells as Ligouri) and Louis de Montfort.
Although these saints teach nothing untrue, their writing is difficult to understand for those without grounding in Mary’s role in salvation history as a subordinate to Christ, who uniquely shares in his ministry through her faithful agreement to bring him into the world.
The key to diffusing this difficulty is to understand that while piety is the fruit of religious truth and brings about a deeper understanding of religious truth, it does not determine religious truth. Christ said, "I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth" (John 16:12–13).
Truth is something that has always existed and never changes; we though, because we are embodied spiritual souls subject to the changes of time, may be drawn individually and collectively into a deeper understanding of truth. In the development of this understanding, pious meditation on Christ’s public ministry may deepen our awareness of the spiritual ramifications of God-made-man choosing to teach not from an ivory tower, isolated from humanity, but from within a community charged to carry on his mission until the end of time.
The luminous mysteries, the mysteries of light, may be a defining gift of Pope John Paul II’s pontificate. Not since Pius V standardized the traditional form of the rosary nearly five hundred years ago has there been such a radical development of this immensely influential Christian prayer. Recalling the fascinating—although strictly unofficial—prophecy of St. Malachy, Peggy Noonan points out in her previously cited article the new significance of Malachy’s nickname for this pope: "John Paul II is ‘Of the Labors of the Sun.’ Which is of course the brightest, most luminous star, the bringer of light to the world. I used to wonder what his nickname meant, but not now."
In the opening verses of the fourth Gospel, there are these words, which seem to take on a fuller meaning as well: "A man named John was sent from God. He came for testimony, to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light, but came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world" (John 1:6–9, New American Bible).
Michelle Arnold, a convert to Catholicism, is a staff member of Catholic Answers. She writes from Santee, California.
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